A Hero's Path
by Prince of the Forgotten
Summary: Loosely based off the Legend of Zelda games and Tachman's works. This work of art here is sure to go right up there with the amateur powerhour!
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE: A SAGE'S JOURNEY**

Prince: My first ever story that has _nothing_ to do with Kiactu. No "Mysterious Prince who can just say fuck the laws of physics", no "Grandfather of Naruto, Great-Grandfather of Haruka", no "Namae no Nai ex-Prince who rebelled against his people", nothing. It's all about Naruto. I know most of you wonder why I'm only centered on Naruto. Well, it's because Naruto is one of the most popular manga/anime in the world right about now (as you can see on FanFiction). It's closely followed by Bleach and then maybe Dragonball Z, or Inuyasha. It's still ongoing and will keep being so until Kishimoto either dies of old age or loses ideas for it, which may be soon what with the (bleep bleep bleep bleep SPOILER ALERT bleep bleep bleep bleep) and the Fourth Shinobi War coming to a close by Naruto (bleep bleep bleep bleep) with Tobi, or as he's more commonly known now (bleep bleep bleep bleep) and (bleep bleep bleep bleep).

Kiactu:

The pairings are as follows:

Naruto/Massive Harem including Video Game/Movie/Manga/Filler girls

**Prince of the Forgotten does not own Naruto or the elements of Legend of Zelda used in this fic.**

Prince: This is highly based off of Tachman's works, such as the Wandering Sage and Sengoku Naruto. Naruto is a bit sarcastic to those who he does not respect and dense towards women's feeling as always. The village of Konoha has never come into existence and its villagers never met. There are no hidden ninja villages and and Naruto's dad was a travelling Sage who came across his mother (**who will still be Minato and Kushina respectively**) and had Naruto. On the night of Naruto's birth, his mother's village was attacked by none other than Kurama and Minato, an outsider, had to use the boy to seal it away, much to the disagreement of Kushina. Eventually, Minato was able to persuade his lover and seal Kurama into their newborn, taking his life and condemning Naruto's.

Kiactu: Eventually, Kushina's village began to hate the boy and saw him as Kurama, not its (or more recently, his) container, [much like the villagers of Konoha did before Naruto's battle with (bleep bleep bleep bleep SPOILER ALERT bleep bleep bleep bleep)] and Kushina was forced to give the baby up to Jiraiya, who took young Naruto back to Mount Myōboku to learn the way of the Toad Sage.

Prince: Eighteen years later, young Naruto is finished with his training (having mastered it to an extent far better than that of his teacher's) and is about to leave on his trip to explore the world and get to know its people. Before he leaves, however, he is given a sword said to have been left there by the great Sage of Six Paths himself. Will he be able to rid the world of its evil taint, or will he be consumed by it?

Serious (like Link, will have some funny moments)/Somewhat Rude Naruto

Cooperative/Flirty Kurama

Kushina is alive.

Non-existent Konoha (meaning not a village but a ton of them with a central point in government)

Prince: There is a modern-day version version of this story under the same name which more than likely follow the plot of Crescent Moon Academy. Only . . . without the Horror category when there's not even a bit of horror in the story.

**CHAPTER START**

_**Destiny and Fate. Two sides of the same coin. But what do they really mean? Is Destiny really changeable? Can someone's Fate really be unable to change?**_

A young man sat topless underneath a waterfall, letting the water flatten his hair and fall upon his shoulders. His eyes were closed in deep concentration, his face void of any emotion. If you looked closely, you could see that a red-orange shadow covered the top of his eyelids, as well as the area around his eyebrows. He had three whisker marks on each cheek and two canines that extended past his bottom lip. Two toads watched over him as he sat completely still. The first one was a shade of green that looked to be tinted a bit darker than green and had the hairstyle that you would expect of an old man, as well as the wrinkles of an old man. The second one was purple-skinned with curly purple hair and about as much wrinkles as the first. The two smiled before the first toad spoke, gaining the attention of the sunny blond youth. "_Naruto, it's time to continue your training._" The youth opened his eyes halfway as if he was coming out of a trance and showed that his irises were golden that had horizontally slanted pupils.

_**Who is to say that Destiny is not a changeable Fate? Or that Fate is an unchangeable Destiny? Is there really a difference between the two?**_

A young red-haired woman sat at a shrine and looked at a portrait of her late husband, who had sunny blond hair the same shade as the earlier boy. She smiled as she closed her eyes and clasped her hands in prayer. "_I have heard from your old sensei, Minato_," she told the framed photo. "_He said your son has mastered Sage Chakra_." A tear escaped her eye and trailed down her cheeks before hitting the floor. "_I only wish you were here to congratulate him once he made his way to Uzushio._" She wiped her eye before standing up and leaving the photo on its pedestal.

_**Can we really escape Fate? Is it possible to surpass what was predestined?**_

A sword stood stabbed into the ground, waiting for the day that its master would come to draw it out of its prison. It was double edged with a purple hilt that had wings, three triangles in an upward triangular position near said hilt, and a blue crystal spiral in the center (**AN: The Master Sword from Legend of Zelda with a spiral inside the center, instead of its usual diamond**.) The blade began glowing, casting an ephemeral blue light upon the land before the light vanished as soon as it came.

_**Are we really pawns of Time? Or can we change our fate on our own? Only Time will be able to tell. Time . . . and hope.**_

Naruto sat on top of a leaf as he felt the energy of nature flow through his body. Birds had begun to make nests in his hair as they felt comfortable on top of his head. Chipmunks began to feed around him, attached to the sudden change in nature surrounding the boy and coming closer. "Naruto-chan!" an elderly voice called up towards the young man. His concentration broke and his movement scared off his company of animals. "What is it, Fukasaku-jiji?" Naruto asked, looking over the side of the leaf.

"It's time for you to begin your journey, Naruto-chan," the elderly voice called back. "We have to prepare you the best way we can." Said boy judged the distance to the ground should he jump and timed it perfectly. He took a swan dive off the leaf and plummeted to the ground, but not before righting himself in mid-air and holding his left hand out towards a tree trunk.

A long chain shot out of his arm as he fell and lodged itself in the bark as the ends were covered in what look like kunai tips. The sudden jerk in the line almost made Naruto's heart skip a beat. He let go of the chain, which disintegrated as soon as he let go, and fell to the ground. The young Sage landed on his feet and stretched as the impact numbed his legs.

"Ow," he said, rubbing the inside of his thighs before standing up. Naruto looked for Fukasaku before coming across a toad with gray hair and green skin. The toad was wearing a gray hoodless cloak and smiled up at the boy before speaking. "Hello, Naruto-chan," he called the boy. "Are you ready for your journey?" Naruto stiffened a bit before nervously scratching the back of his head. "Well, you caught me at a bad time, Jiji," Naruto answered. His teacher said nothing before hopping away, wanting his student to follow after him. "Jiraiya-chan is waiting for you, my prized pupil."

Naruto walked behind him, intent on finding his other teacher in hopes of learning what all of this was about. Fukasaku led his student to an old fashion home complete with wooden doors and a koi fish pond. Near said pond was a man sitting on a platform held up only by a pencil-thin pole. The man had hair whiter than the toad and a headband with two sets of horns on it and the kanji for Oil written in the middle. A pair of lines drifted down his cheeks from the bottom of both eyes, which were closed in concentration.

"Jiraiya-chan," Fukasaku called his student. "Jiraiya-chan!" He got no answer and decided to go for a different approach. Fukasaku jumped up the pole before brandishing a staff and using said staff to club his student over the head. "**Jiraiya-chan**! Naruto-chan is here to see you!"

"Itai," Jiraiya complained as he glared at the amphibian. He looked to see his favorite apprentice before jumping to the ground. "Why, if I'm not proud of you for today," Jiraiya told Naruto. "Today is the day that you get to see new things, adventure to new places, and meet new people (and by that extension, I mean fool around with new ladies)." That last remark got Jiraiya another knot to compliment the other on his head.

"I am proud to call you Student of the Gallant Toad Sage Jiraiya!" Naruto didn't know what to say other than, "Keep it in your pants, Ero-Sennin." A tick mark appeared on the older man's head. "Is it so wrong to have a healthy obsession with the female form?" he asked his student. "There's healthy and there's being TOO obsessive with it," Fukasaku joined in. "Unfortunately, you are more of the latter."

"Everyone's against me," Jiraiya said to himself, crouched down near a tree and drawing in the dirt with a finger. Naruto sweatdropped as the man kind of _did_ take the time to take him in when both of his parents died . . . to his knowledge. He was sure about his father being dead, but he never heard anything at all about his mother.

Naruto withdrew from the duo only to be stopped once more by Fukasaku. "You can't go out into the world looking like that," the Elder Toad called out. Naruto stopped before turning around and studying his clothing. It was a loose, black, and sleeveless shirt that was baggy near the neck and underarms. His pants were a dark orange and held a few cuts and holes in them. "Oh yeah," Naruto sheepishly chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head. "I guess not."

"MA!" Fukasaku yelled into the house. "Naruto-chan's about to leave on his journey!" The door opened to show a purple toad about the same age as he hopping outside to join the group. "You could've called me earlier, Pa," the female toad scolded her husband. "I was just putting the finishing touches on Naruto's new outfit."

She brought out a silver shihakushō with the kanji for "Oil" on its right breast and the kanji for "Myōboku" on its back. The jacket had an orange trim and gloves that were attached to the cloak with orange straps crisscrossing up its arm. On the back of each glove was a hand guard (segmented metal plating that fits on the back of the hand; used for sword fighting as a way to defend your hands). The outfit also came with a pair of silver combat fatigues that had an orange trim along the cuffs, much like Naruto's clothing.

Naruto hurriedly ran into the house and tried his new clothing. He had to admit that the fabrics moved when he moved perfectly before he noticed how many tails the cloak had. "Huh . . . Nine tails," he thought out loud. "I think Shima-baa is getting used to you, Kurama." (**AN: Anyone see Ichigo's new cloak? That's what the look is based off**)

"_**You'd think that, wouldn't you, Naruto?**_" a voice replied back. "_**I'm starting to think the old toad has it out for me**_." Naruto shook his head. "I don't think so," he told the voice. "She seems to be warming up to the fact that you're in here really." He heard a snort and the conversation was over just like that. Naruto stepped out of the house dressed in his new attire and Jiraiya gave the boy a thumbs-up. "You look good," Shima told him. Naruto smiled as he jumped from the porch.

He landed next to her and Jiraiya before looking around. "Where's Jiji?" he asked.

"Naruto-chan," Fukasaku called to his student, "I want you to follow me." Shima knew what it was that he was being led to, but Jiraiya and Naruto were left in the dark. They soon followed after the toad before coming to a clearing in the forest. They stood before a sword with a purple crossguard decorated to look like wings folded up. In its center was a blue gem cut into a spiral shape outlined in a diamond and further up the blade was a depiction of three triangles set up in a triangular shape enough to create a forth inverted triangle of a different color (**AN: The Triforce symbol**). The sword was double-edged and curved near the hilt enough. The pedestal it was stabbed into showed the same exact symbol.

"This sword was left to us by the Rikudou Sennin," Fukasaku explained. "He told us that the only way for us to take this sword is if we find the Child of Prophecy. Naruto, we have tried this before with the student Jiraiya had before you and found out that he was not the one that was destined to bring the clans together. I want to see if you are the student to do what his previous ones couldn't."

Naruto stepped up closer to the sword and placed one hand on the hilt. He sighed before pulling on the blade. It began to slowly pull itself from the stone with the sound of metal against well . . . stone. It finally was loose and Naruto brought it over his head in triumph before swinging around the sword with skills of a newly experienced swordsman. "I guess having Hiro teach you in the ways of the Kenjutsu master was a good thing," Jiraiya told him.

Naruto put the sword in a sheath before being called by Fukasaku once more. "That sword is called Whirl Shadow," the old toad told him. "It's a sword that vanquishes all evil and shall lead you on your path for peace. There is said to have been a spirit sleeping in the blade. You have been blessed as the Child who will restore peace and order to the lands outside of these mountains." Fukasaku smiled. "I hope that you remember to summon Ma and me at least once when you leave this mountain."

As they watched the boy walk off, Shima and Fukasaku knew that it would be a long time before the boy made contact with them. It would be even longer before he ever visited the only home he knew.

A week later, Naruto walked slowly through an eerie field. "This place reeks of negative emotions," he commented. The air had death and despair running through it, as if the joy was sucked out of it by some soulless demon. Naruto grimaced as sounds of moaning could be heard. "What the hell?" he yelled as a partially decomposed hand shot out of the ground. He grabbed before watching as the owner of the hand pulled the rest of its rotting body out of its grave.

Naruto stabbed the blade into its head and watched as the creature turned into green dust. "What the hell is that?" he asked, only to duck as another had crept behind him. He hadn't noticed it until it got close to him and almost bit him but was stopped by an arrow through the head. He knew that it wasn't one of his as he had no bow but turned his head around to see a passing caravan. The archer, a young man about his age from what he could tell, lowered his bow before turning around and throwing a knife at the creature that almost attacked his horse.

Naruto noticed that there was a young woman in the coach before jumping over to the duo in a single bound much like an amphibian and stabbed into the skull of the next creature to pop up out of the ground. "Come on!" the archer from before yelled out to Naruto. The jinchuriki's mouth twitched at being rushed before deciding that it was for the best that they ran.

"What were they?" he asked as the coach began to slow down. "They were the remains of warriors that fought on that field," the archer answered as he was sure that they were out of the danger zone . . . for now. "Ever since that King of the Night took over, the evil that he permeates enters their bodies and settles in to make up for the fact that they have no souls. The locals say that they will attack a human and try their best to consume their flesh, but no one has been that stupid enough to leave their houses in less than a year or so. Most of the time, they just eat the flesh of the livestock and other creatures that wander at night."

"I have a feeling that you just insulted me, _friend_," Naruto growled as the archer finally got the horses driving the coach to stop. "This village is safe as a barrier cast by the local mage protects it from the Queen of Night's influence." Naruto's face looked puzzled. He knew that there were chakra users much like him, but he had never heard of mages. As he walked through the village with his new entourage, he could feel the despair from the otherwise safe village. Though it _was_ safe, it was anything but peaceful as people were at their wits end. He could tell as most of their attention was on a mountain covered in shadows.

"Shikamaru, shall we go see the mage?" the lady of the group asked. She was a platinum blond with hair just a tad lighter than Naruto's own golden. Her hair was done in an intricate bun with one bang hanging over her right eye. Her dress was white with a hole in its torso, showing her toned stomach as its skirt-tail dragged on the ground a good meter or two. Its top was cut down to show her entire shoulder area, a good bit of cleavage, and its arms went up to the middle of her funny bones to match the gap.

"It is my pleasure, Lady Ino," the now-named Shikamaru answered. As you would expect of an archer, Shikamaru had a bow strapped to his back but he also had a short sword strapped to his waist. A quiver full of arrows was wrapped around his back along with his bow. He wore a green tunic and gloves and black tights underneath. Both of them turned their attention to the new person in their group.

"I apologize for my rudeness," Lady Ino said as she turned her attention onto Naruto. "But I forgot to ask what your name was." Naruto looked towards her and smiled. "It's Naruto . . . Naruto Uzumaki, Toad Sage of Myōboku."

The two turned their attention on Naruto. "Are you really a sage?" Shikamaru asked, getting a nod from the boy. "I'm sorry, but I have never heard of a "toad sage". I always had imagined sages being a little . . . older." Naruto then glared at the boy. "I'll have you know that if that was the truth, then I guess I'm immortal. Not every sage has to be over the age of fifty."

"Forgive my rudeness, Master Sage," Shikamaru admitted. Naruto sighed before just waving his hands in reassurance. "Don't worry about it," he told the archer. "I've been called worse before by even worse than you." He then turned his attention to the road before him. "So . . . Where is this mage's house I heard about?"

"He's actually a close friend of ours," Shikamaru answered. "Lady Ino and I were just on our way to get more charms from him to ward those Zombanos (**AN: If you have a better name for those creatures other than Skalchild, PM me**) from Lady Ino's castle." Ino had been rather silent as Naruto turned his attention towards her. "It's not really my castle as much as my family's," she defended. "Shikamaru's father and Choji's father worked under my father as his prized champion and mage. Eventually, that led to their three children becoming friends and here we are now."

"What about this Choji guy?" Naruto asked.

"Choji went off to study magic under another teacher as his father knew only a few attack spells and mostly defense ones as well," Shikamaru explained. "We're coming upon his house right about now." Naruto looked in front of him to see a massive house much bigger than the shops in the village. The house itself had a gigantic door with two stone figures wielding axes standing in front of it. Shikamaru and Ino walked in just fine but as he stepped down on the platform, he had to backflip in order to not be sliced before grabbing one of the axes with his bare hands. The concrete underneath him began to crack under the pressure, but he managed to stand firm and pushed the axe off his person before dodging another.

All the while he fought, Naruto noticed that force was trying to weigh him down somehow as he knew that jump should've been a lot higher. His punch even without Sage Mode should've been able to break the axe. It seemed that the force of gravity had begun to increase upon him as if to restrain him, so he pumped a bit of Kurama's chakra in his body to help stay up when both of the stone axes charged towards him to decapitate his head from his shoulders.

Naruto raised both hands over his head and tried his best to stop them when two golden chakra arms extended from his. The hands grabbed the axes just as they grew closer to his neck and held it at a standstill before the pressure from the weapons began to uplift. "I apologize," a newer voice (male, if Naruto had anything to go by) said. "My golems only attack if they feel threatened by a demonic presence. I hope they haven't hurt you."

"No . . ." Naruto said in a strained voice. "Not a problem at all. Now would you mind telling them to back off? This position is really taxing on me." The sudden feel of force suddenly lifted as Naruto could see a light flicker. "That spell was an extra way to make sure that the Zombanos tried to stay outside the village. Few creatures can stand that pressure and fewer are able to hold off two golems at the same time. Unfortunately, humans are not in that short list of creatures." Naruto then straightened his back and realigned a few vertebrae before turning his attention on the new voice.

It belonged to a hefty man not that much older (give or take a few months) than Naruto with long red hair. Upon each of his cheeks, red spirals could be seen as his squinty eyes narrowed at Naruto in fascination. He began to fully observe his point of interest for a few minutes before nodding his head. "You do intrigue me," the hefty man said. "This magic seal was here when my master was the master of this castle. It's supposed to ward off evil spirits with even more evil intentions, but for some reason it seemed to want to hold you down."

'_I can think why_,' Naruto thought as the image of a certain giant fox came to mind. He heard a snort in his mind before Kurama began to try and communicate with his warden. "**Naruto, I sense someone trying to pierce your mind,**" he warned. "**I think it may be that Yamanaka. They are known for using their chakra to try to pierce other's mental areas.**" Naruto turned his attention towards Ino and the girl could swear that his eyes turned an unnatural red as he smiled. Naruto wagged a finger at her as if to tell her he found her doing something that she shouldn't.

Naruto's eyes transformed back into their normal shade of blue as he followed behind Choji, who led him into the mansion before sitting him down at a table. "I want to see if it was not a fluke that you were able to withstand the pressure of my gate's seal," the mage told him. "Could you please lift your shirt?" That one statement made Naruto feel a little awkward. "Um . . . Are you sure that you want to see me without my shirt?" he asked. "There's a female in the room."

"Just do it, Naruto," Ino reassured him. "If there's anything other than food that interests Choji, it's the unexplainable. Besides, if I've seen Shikamaru and Choji before, I'm pretty sure I've seen what you're hiding under that cloak." Naruto sighed before setting his weapons on the ground and lifting his shirt. Ino almost ate her words as she looked at the boy with renewed interest. He was ripped and had little puncture marks along his body. She wanted to touch them and feel the indentions in his skin.

"**Naruto, she's staring at you,**" Kurama said. "**I told you that having those scars would interest her. That's why I didn't heal them all the way."**

'_You mean to tell me that the only reason I look like a pincushion want to be is because you want me to get laid?_' Naruto answered. A steady yes was his answer and the jinchuriki could only sigh as he knew that the Bijuu was somewhat messed in the head. After all, he had to find something to do what with the nearing twenty years of living within his host.

Choji began to start an incantation after setting a circle of candles around Naruto. Lines began to spread and connect around him until an intricate rune sat underneath. The area began to glow before Naruto shielded his eyes. Once the light dimmed, he opened them to see a white empty space. There was nothing in sight and Naruto could only guess what occupant was here before him. "That must mean that Kurama is unleashed outside. Oh I hope this means that he's obeying himself."

If only he knew. If only he knew.

**CHAPTER END**

Prince: Well, that's the beginning of it. It's actually pretty difficult to write someone as completely different as they were intentionally made. Naruto was supposed to be this incredibly dense major bad ass that had a doctorate in Kick-Ass 101 who's only good at making plans on the field of battle, not my version of serious yet flirty though he still is the major bad ass blah blah blah. Next chapter we shall see if Kurama made any enemies while occupying Naruto's body.

Kiactu: This is what happens after countless hours of reading Tachman's works and playing nothing but the latest console Zelda games like Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword.


	2. Not a New Chapter Will Be Deleted

**THIS IS NOT A NEW CHAPTER**

Prince: Like the title states, this is not a new chapter. This is an announcement about a story I once read but forgot the name to about a female Sasuke who ends up becoming Naruto's tutor. Somehow that turned into blackmail where Sasuke tells Naruto that he either sleeps with her (in more ways than one) or be turned in to Iruka for failing to do what she orders as she's the genius of the class as always. Eventually, it begins to morph into something else entirely where Naruto finds out that she's actually pretty lonely. Well, that's according to the last chapter I read before its name completely slipped my mind. In the one in a million chance that someone who reads this does remember the story's name, I would like to ask that they either review or PM me about it. Oh, and please explain to me how to get a specific person to beta your stories. I kinda got BadButt94 to, but I don't know how to select only her from the list.


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